Grain-hulling machine



J. St. JOHN. Grain Hulling Machine.

No. 233,381. Patented Oct. is, 1880.

INVENTOR:

WITNESSES NJETERS, FHOTO-IJTMOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON DV 6,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH ST. JOHN, OF PENN YAN, NEW YORK.

GRAlN-HULLING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 233,381, dated October19, 1880.

Application filed February 18, 1880.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH ST. JOHN, of PennYan, in the county of Yates and State of New York, have invented a newand useful Improvement in Grain Cleaning, Hulling, and SeparatingMachines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in grain cleaning, hulling, andseparating machines in which there is a stationary hullingstone,provided with a draft-opening and fanconnection between the eye andskirt of the stone to draw the dust from the grain contained between thestones, and a runningstone, concaved in the center and having a plainhulling-surface extending inwardly from the skirt to meet the concavedportion of the stone; and the objects of my invention are, first, toremove dust and dirt from the outside of the grain before it is hulledand, second, to hull the grain after it is cleaned and before it leavesthe stones.

In the accompanying drawing the figure is a longitudinal verticalsection of the machine constituting my invention.

A is the frame-work that supports the several parts of the machine. Itmay be made of wood or iron, or a part of each, the upper part made toreceive the running-stone F and support the upper stone, E, and thesieves il-Ild fan and fan-spout are placed between its egs.

B is the spindle that supports and drives the running-stone. The pivot,at its lower end, is provided with a step, by which it is held inposition, and with which the spindle may be raised or lowered at will.The step is attached to the under side of the top of the frame. Theupper end is held by braces fastened to the top of the frame, and at theupper end the driving-pulley is applied and fastened.

G is the hopper that conducts the grain into the eye of the upper stone.It may be made in any ordinary manner.

D is the curb surrounding the stone. It may be made of wood or metal, aspreferred.

E is the upper stone. It may be made of any kind of stone now in use. Itis made circular in form, and the under side is fiat and with or withoutfurrows, as preferred. It is held in position by supporters, that willallow its lower face to be adjusted parallel to the upper face of thelower stone. The upper surface may be made to suit the wishes of themaker or user. It has a hole in the center for the spindle B to passthrough, also for the grain to pass down through, also a hole near theperiphery for dust to pass out, as shown in the figure.

F is the under stone. It should be made of the same material as theupper one and about the same diameter. It is fastened to the spindle B.The upper surface is divided into two parts. The part at the edge isflat and like an annular rim, and it may be roughened with a pick, andmust be dressed to correspond with the upper stone. That part within theannular rim is made concave, to hold within proper limits any requiredamount of grain, so that the motion of the stone will impart motion tothe grain, thereby rubbing one grain against another and against theupper stone, thus liberating the dusty substance before the grain passesover the annular rim and is hulled.

G is the fan and its case and spout. The spout extends from within thehole near the edge of the upper stone to any desirable place todischarge the dust. The fan may be made as large as desired, and must bedriven fast enough to draw the liberated dust from the concavity betweenthe stones.

H is a series of sieves used to separate the hulls from the grain. Theymay be made of any size of wire-gauze to suit the various kinds of grainto be hulled, or of various sizes to separate, when it is desirable toseparate, coarse from the finer portions of grain. The hulls pass offthe upper sieve, the grain passes through it. All the sieves let thehulled grain through, and when any unhulled grains pass through theupper sieve they are carried off by the lower sieves and discharged intothe box or spout I, to be conveyed again into the hulling-stones. Thehulled grain falls down through the spout J at the bottom board heneaththe lowest sieve into the spout M.

L is the fan that blows away the dust that may pass with the grain downthrough the sieves. It is provided with the ordinary fancase andband-wheel to give it the proper mo tion.

M is a spout extending from the fan-case, as shown in the figure. Itconveys the wind from the fan to the grain while it is falling throughit from the spout K. This spout K receives and conducts the grain downinto the spout M. There is also a spout, N, to discharge the cleanedgrain into a receptacle or conveyer to take it to be ground.

0 is a cant-board placed across the spout M for the grain to fall upon,to impede its mo tion and scatter it so that the wind may moreefl'ectually clean it, and in connection with it are guides, as shown inthe figure, that direct the wind to the top and bottom of the spout M,to intensify it while acting upon the grain and allow it to pass onbeyond the grain with less force while carrying the dust out of the endof the spout.

P is a knocker made to impinge against the bottom board of the sieves toprevent the sieves clogging. It is composed of a lever bent so as tostrike against the bottom board. It has a notch in the upper edge forthe cam Q to actuate it with, and a fulcrum at the other end to holditin place, and is provided with a spring underneath it, all asrepresented in the figure.

Q is the cam that actuates the knocker. It is placed on a shaftunderneath the sieves, and is driven by a band-wheel that will give itbut slow motion.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The upper stationary hulling-stone, provided with a draft-opening andfan-connection between the eye and skirt, in combination with therunner, concaved in the center and having a plain balling-surfaceextending inwardly from the skirt to meet the concaved portion, wherebythe dust liberated by the centrifugal action of the runner may be drawnofl' before the grain is subjected to the hullingaction of the stones atthe skirt, substantially as described.

Witnesses: JOSEPH ST. JOHN.

JOHN L. LEWIS, CHARLES KETGHUM.

